2024 US Open Men’s Singles

Choose your Champion


  • Total voters
    77
  • Poll closed .

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
He has a real problem on hard courts and it makes up 50% of the slams. That already makes it tough.

Throw in the fact this era will probably only get tougher for him. I expect other players to rise and come after him. He won’t always win Wimbledon and RG, as his form can be patchy, he vulnerable to injuries and other rivals will rise. I just don’t see the same consistency in him. He’s great player but for me isn’t big 3 level. Yes, he’s 21 but who’s to say he gets better than this? Many young players started well and burnt out. In 5 years in may not be as good.
So what

He is 21 and already won usopen even if without Djokovic

Dude are you for real. 2 months back you couldn't stop telling alcaraz will win everything and now you are saying his problem is hard courts? He has as many hard courts slams as Djokovic and more than fedal at same age already

This is first slam in 8 slams that he didn't reach at least qf of

W
SF (cramped out)
W
SF
QF
W
W

Surfaces don't matter as much in 2024 as they did in 1990. If he is winning so much on other courts he can definitely win on hard courts.

Nothing is impossible nole says that
 
Hard courts are Alcaraz’s weakness for sure. He was taken to the cleaners last night. I watched the whole match in disbelief. I’d still put him in the top 5 of hard courts. But I’d probably rank them:

1. Sinner
2. Djoker
3. Medvedev
4. Alcaraz
5. Zverev

Speaking of which, Sinner this year is 30-2 on hard courts, which includes 5-1 vs the top-5.
I agree. This is why I not sure he’s breaking all records like some think. HC is played on most and I think we can conclude currently it his weakest surface and he’s further down the list.

Other players will come too to make it more difficult. Therefore, he’s relying on Wimbledon and RG more but all it takes is another rival or 2 to come there, injury or just slight loss of form. I think he will win more but I don’t see complete domination which is why I feel he won’t get to the big 3 records or surpass. I predict closer to Sampras but we will see.
 

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
Hard courts are Alcaraz’s weakness for sure. He was taken to the cleaners last night. I watched the whole match in disbelief. I’d still put him in the top 5 of hard courts. But I’d probably rank them:

1. Sinner
2. Djoker
3. Medvedev
4. Alcaraz
5. Zverev

Speaking of which, Sinner this year is 30-2 on hard courts, which includes 5-1 vs the top-5.
I would put him at number 2.

But Djokovic is also at 2 at least for now.
 
So what

He is 21 and already won usopen even if without Djokovic

Dude are you for real. 2 months back you couldn't stop telling alcaraz will win everything and now you are saying his problem is hard courts? He has as many hard courts slams as Djokovic and more than fedal at same age already

This is first slam in 8 slams that he didn't reach at least qf of

W
SF (cramped out)
W
SF
QF
W
W

Surfaces don't matter as much in 2024 as they did in 1990. If he is winning so much on other courts he can definitely win on hard courts.

Nothing is impossible nole says that
True but I think I’m guilty like a few for overhyping him on hard courts. I think we can’t keep defending these results and performances. It not just 1 off events but like 2 years now bar Indian wells. I have no issue saying he’s the best on grass currently and right in the mix for top dog on clay.

However, if it shows he’s relying on them to catch the big 3 records his chances reduce massively. I also think he will get more competition on them in time soon.

I still think he’s winning a lot but let’s respect the big 3 man. What they did wasn’t normal and I’m just not convinced alcaraz has the same all surface consistency or longevity of them. We will see.
 

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
True but I think I’m guilty like a few for overhyping him on hard courts. I think we can’t keep defending these results and performances. It not just 1 off events but like 2 years now bar Indian wells. I have no issue saying he’s the best on grass currently and right in the mix for top dog on clay.

However, if it shows he’s relying on them to catch the big 3 records his chances reduce massively. I also think he will get more competition on them in time soon.

I still think he’s winning a lot but let’s respect the big 3 man. What they did wasn’t normal and I’m just not convinced alcaraz has the same all surface consistency or longevity of them. We will see.
Yes

And who other than Sinner Djokovic has won anything more than him in past 2 years

He had cp vs nole in Cincy last year. He is even with him on hard courts. Sinner is slightly ahead now.
 
I would put him at number 2.

But Djokovic is also at 2 at least for now.
The last 2 years bar Indian wells don’t show that at all. Let’s be real alcaraz has been disappointing on hard courts for roughly 2 years since us open 2022.

You will say his young age but it shows you can regress as you get older like he did a bit on hard courts. We don’t know if this is the best it gets for him. He’s an early bloomer and he might not last like Nadal who had injuries or drops of form but his fierce mentality and talent helped him through it.
 

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
The last 2 years bar Indian wells don’t show that at all. Let’s be real alcaraz has been disappointing on hard courts for roughly 2 years since us open 2022.

You will say his young age but it shows you can regress as you get older like he did a bit on hard courts. We don’t know if this is the best it gets for him. He’s an early bloomer and he might not last like Nadal who had injuries or drops of form but his fierce mentality and talent helped him through it.
I have no ideas why you think Nadal can do it but not others again

And his hard courts form is not all bad. He is one of the top contender here. Hard courts is more neutral surface and his strength currently lies on natural surfaces. But he is easily ahead of zed med

Novak is going out as a challenger very soon. Even today raz can beat him 50%
 
I have no ideas why you think Nadal can do it but not others again

And his hard courts form is not all bad. He is one of the top contender here. Hard courts is more neutral surface and his strength currently lies on natural surfaces. But he is easily ahead of zed med

Novak is going out as a challenger very soon. Even today raz can beat him 50%
Nadal has an incredible mentality especially when things went wrong. Alcaraz has showed resilience but is heas resilient as Nadal? Ido still question if things fall apart for alcaraz and he doesn’t win a slam for a year or 2 will he bounce back. The big 3 always did let’s see with alcaraz. It won’t all be sunshine and lollipops for him. Nadal always had RG to fall back on too.

Unless say alcaraz makes Wimbledon his own like Nadal made RG his and Djoko at AO then it won’t be easy.
 

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
Nadal has an incredible mentality especially when things went wrong. Alcaraz has showed resilience but is heas resilient as Nadal? Ido still question if things fall apart for alcaraz and he doesn’t win a slam for a year or 2 will he bounce back. The big 3 always did let’s see with alcaraz. It won’t all be sunshine and lollipops for him. Nadal always had RG to fall back on too.

Unless say alcaraz makes Wimbledon his own like Nadal made RG his and Djoko at AO then it won’t be easy.
Nah man it's all wrong conclusion

You are just too emotionally attached and think big 3 are some aliens
 

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
Alcaraz is barely 21 and not 81.

2 majors a year is faster than what he needs
Shorty Long will never, ever win another match..............................................................................................this month!
 

ND-13

Legend
I guess the tournament is over for you now? Shame. Although you still got sinner as your distant 2nd favourite ;)

As long as Sinner or Djokovic win , we are all good

Alcaraz for all we know may take the GOAT title by winning CYGS like Laver. It needs concentrated dominance in a calendar year. He is still 3-4 years away from his peak
 
As long as Sinner or Djokovic win , we are all good

Alcaraz for all we know may take the GOAT title by winning CYGS like Laver. It needs concentrated dominance in a calendar year. He is still 3-4 years away from his peak
Root for sinner. I know you deep down don’t want Djokovic to win. I think you should want Zverev or Meddy to beat joker. Therefore, he doesn’t get record equaling 5 us opens and vulture another title in his old age ;)
 

ND-13

Legend
Root for sinner. I know you deep down don’t want Djokovic to win. I think you should want Zverev or Meddy to beat joker. Therefore, he doesn’t get record equaling 5 us opens and vulture another title in his old age ;)

No matter what happens now nothing can change that Djokovic won more at age 31-36 than before . It is what it is
 

Aabye5

G.O.A.T.
Fallen seeds report:

[29] Cerundolo, r2
[27] Bublik, r1
[26] Jarry, r1
[24] Fils, r2
[22] Tabilo, r1
[21] Baez, r2
[19] Auger-Aliassime, r1
[17] Humbert, r2
[16] Korda, r2
[15] Rune, r1
[11] Tsitsipas, r1
[7] Hurkacz, r2
[3] Alcaraz, r2


And a top star, at last....welcome Carlos Alcaraz!
 

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
People can calm down on alcaraz winning 30 slams! lol

How dare you! According to certain TTW members, Alcaraz is the first do just about anything in tennis, because--in the words of another member--he's "the most talented player" in tennis history. Yes, drowning in that level of fanboy absurdity can now be diagnosed as Alcarazentia™.

Alcaraz needs a lot of work on fast HC

...such as a basic strategy...

Ok, he'll never win anything again. Satisfied? Some of you Djokovic fans are truly something. Brainwashed by yourselves.

BS. No one said Alcaraz will "never win anything again"--but that's the kind of extreme reaction his fans have to any legitimate criticism about him.
 

GhostDog

Hall of Fame
I said it before, and I'll say it again -- Botic is no joke
True, but what makes this loss particularly egregious is that Botic has struggled all year, only wining 50% of his matches.

Alcaraz looked totally outmatched, which was stunning.

Let's see if Botic can backup this massive upset. Rooting for him to take out Draper.

Sinner has a clear patch to the final now.
 

Fintft

G.O.A.T.
True, but what makes this loss particularly egregious is that Botic has struggled all year, only wining 50% of his matches.

Alcaraz looked totally outmatched, which was stunning.

Let's see if Botic can backup this massive upset. Rooting for him to take out Draper.

Sinner has a clear patch to the final now.
From the little I've seen of Carlito, he was over confident, slow (especially on ROS and recovering after the serve) and made tons of technical errrors, i.e. right at the end: often lifting the head too soon, not prepping properly( not taking the racquet back fast enough), etc. Usually pros get away with those, yet still, they were glaring.
 

Rovesciarete

Hall of Fame
Kudos to Botic for coming out strong and posing the challenge, staying focused and attacking the lack of incisive play by his opponent. Interesting in the short interview before they walked on, when asked how he intended to play the match, Botic said ( to the effect) that he hoped Carlitos was having an 'off' day. Well, he got exactly that, played his own game superbly- and with a great demeanour of quiet positivity. Botic knew Carlitos was off piste, and honed in to dominate.

There is a bit of an all-court player pattern causing Alcaraz problems, taking the fight to Carlos is often key. One of the great upsets in the last year, but also one of the greatest matches Botic played in his career and did so with all the qualities you wrote about.

As all players Carlos is more vulnerable if his physical form isn't that great and more so on hardcourt where his performance margin is smaller.
 

NYTennisfan

Hall of Fame
Come on! Shelton vs Tiafoe should have been the night match.

Thompson was right about silly scheduling...just not for the reason he stated.
Yeah, how the hell is that the early match while Popyrin-Djokovic is the primetime match. Not to take away from Popyrin who is playing the best tennis of his career but Shelton-Tiafoe should be the feature match.
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
Yeah, how the hell is that the early match while Popyrin-Djokovic is the primetime match. Not to take away from Popyrin who is playing the best tennis of his career but Shelton-Tiafoe should be the feature match.

Shows you just how much pull Djokovic has, that he can command the prime time spot over two (African-)American players at their home Slam
 

pirhaksar

Professional
The top half seems to be much weaker now. Sadly, Med and Sinner are in the same quarter.

One of these would be in the SF:

Botic Van De Zandschulp (NED)
(25)Jack Draper (GBR)
David Goffin (BEL)
Tomas Machac (CZE)
(10)Alex De Minaur (AUS)
Daniel Evans (GBR)
(30)Matteo Arnaldi (ITA)
Jordan Thompson (AUS)

Could literally be any one of them except maybe Goffin(?)
I’d think ADM..he and Pops have been on a tear these past few months.
 

pirhaksar

Professional
If Djoker makes it to Sinner
Hard courts are Alcaraz’s weakness for sure. He was taken to the cleaners last night. I watched the whole match in disbelief. I’d still put him in the top 5 of hard courts. But I’d probably rank them:

1. Sinner
2. Djoker
3. Medvedev
4. Alcaraz
5. Zverev

Speaking of which, Sinner this year is 30-2 on hard courts, which includes 5-1 vs the top-5.
and that’s a huggeee if right now, I think Novak may surprise..he may come out swinging especially since he lost AO semis.
 

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
I guess the tournament is over for you now? ;)
It is for all of the Alcarazentia ™ sufferers who spent every moment after the end of the French Open starting endless threads predicting Alcaraz was on his way to GOAT-hood in 2024. Then the Olympics and Djokovic arrived, and the excuses began. The apparent effects of Alcarazentia ™ intensified once more after the Olympics with symptoms such as that 3-majors in 2024 / self-destructive thread, and now blaming his coaches for his failure at the USO. Alcaraz can never be responsible for his own shortcomings, or acknowledge other players can and do defeat him.
 

zvelf

Hall of Fame
Anyone who thinks Alcaraz has a very good chance at GOAT-hood is misleading themselves. On the other hand, Alcaraz is very likely the best player of his generation and for the next few years, and this loss shouldn't be seen as a sign of decline or major problems for him. Every top player had out-of-the-blue mysterious losses like Doohan beating Becker, Horvath beating Navratilova, Rosol beating Nadal, Stakhovsky beating Federer, Istomin beating Djokovic, etc. Alcaraz is probably mentally and physically fatigued after his Olympics loss, and his not winning the USO could be foreseen.
 
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NYTennisfan

Hall of Fame
Am I crazy to think Tommy Paul is gonna win the US Open this year? He played so freaking insane in his last match. I was a fan already but man I love watching him play especially recently.
The top 5 players are pretty much cemented so #6 is up for grabs and I think Paul might very well be the 6th best player in the world now, he's playing at a very high level and could well give Sinner a ton of trouble in a potential 4th round match.
 
There is a bit of an all-court player pattern causing Alcaraz problems, taking the fight to Carlos is often key. One of the great upsets in the last year, but also one of the greatest matches Botic played in his career and did so with all the qualities you wrote about.

As all players Carlos is more vulnerable if his physical form isn't that great and more so on hardcourt where his performance margin is smaller.
Agree that. Each man no doubt learning something about himself from this match, could lead to something better for each, one hopes.

Am I crazy to think Tommy Paul is gonna win the US Open this year? He played so freaking insane in his last match. I was a fan already but man I love watching him play especially recently.
Heh, heh. Crazy is good, man - I'm with you. I like TP and enjoy his game too. But there are others - e.g- in my dream, I see Dan Evans catch fire and cut through them all like a hot knife in butter........Wishful thinking is fun!

Anyone who thinks Alcaraz has a very good chance at GOAT-hood is misleading themselves. On the other hand, Alcaraz is very likely the best player of his generation and for the next few years, and this loss shouldn't be seen as a sign of decline or major problems for him. Every top player had out-of-the-blue mysterious losses like Doohan beating Becker, Horvath beating Navratilova, Rosol beating Nadal, Stakhovsky beating Federer, Istomin beating Djokovic, etc. Alcaraz is probably mentally and physically fatigued after his Olympics loss, and his not winning the USO could be foreseen.
Great post, man. Dude has had great success and could continue it if fit/ up to it. If not, he won't. But writing him off seems as stupid to me as declaring him to be a Goat.

Today, I'll be keeping an eye on the Musetti/ Rublev/Dimitrov matches. Curious too how Shang will do. Heh, heh - forgot the other matches today ( time diff takes them into tomorrow here) also interested in the Zverev/ Paul / Evans/ Mensik/ Goffin / Cobolli. Novak and Jannik should get through without issues.
 
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zvelf

Hall of Fame
I was wrong about Altmaier over Navone despite Navone never winning a set on hard court before. There's a first time for everything. Still, Evans took him out yesterday in straights and Evans was coming off the longest USO match ever.

This round, I think Machac over Goffin at -190 is a pretty good deal, especially in a parlay with some sure winners. A risky bet possibly worth throwing a small amount at is Shang over Ruud at +200. Also risky but maybe worthwhile is Lehecka over Rublev at +265.
 

bw114

Rookie
Settle this argument I'm having with a friend: in America only, will this Tiafoe/Shelton match be the most watched match of the tournament? If so, by how much?
 
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